My deep, dark secret
Those of you on my email list
will already be aware of the secret I've been hugging to my chest for
the last 2.5 years --- my second life writing about werewolves.
To be honest, fiction
has always been my greatest passion. Non-fiction serves a purpose --- I
love to learn what has succeeded or failed for others and to pass
on the favor by sharing my own experiences. But fiction is the treat I
look forward to at the end of a long, hard day. In fact, I read about
thirty novels for every non-fiction book I open, with genres running
the gamut from fantasy to women's fiction --- basically, I read
everything except horror and poetry.
When I was in high
school, I was astonished to find Isaac Asimov in the non-fiction
section with a whole shelf of books to his name. I'd enjoyed his
fiction (particularly the Norby series he wrote with his wife) and
was astonished to see that he had a line of non-fiction as well.
But when the time came to
publish my own speculative fiction, I was too chicken to put it under
my own name. So I invented Aimee Easterling, who has since gone on to
become a USA Today bestselling author. (Yes, I do think about my
fiction persona in the third person. In case you're curious, her
last name is my husband's maternal grandfather's last name --- my way
of (kinda) taking Mark's surname in the end.)
So if you've ever
wondered why I haven't written quite as much non-fiction in the last
couple of years --- that's why. Aimee's been busy taking over my
fingers and typing out her tall tales instead.
I know most of you don't
read urban fantasy, so I won't bore you with details about her books in
the future. But if you're interested, I'm running a big sale on my 2016
series at the moment with the prequel
free and the other books marked
down to 99 cents apiece. Meanwhile, Shiftless is always
free on all retailers as a sampler of my earlier fiction work.
And even if you are sublimely uninterested in fantasy, I thought you might like to
see yet another way that homesteading has helped us fulfill our dreams.
By keeping our expenses low and growing much of what we eat, Mark and I
are able to pursue our passions to the hilt. Who knows what will come
next?
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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J.P. --- Thanks for your support!
Chris --- You made me laugh.
When you first mentioned your alter ego, it sounded like an alias to me. The name struck me as odd, since Aimé is a French name, and not a very common one I think. If you had used Amy, I wouldn't have noticed.
Anyway, I hope that your literary career will be a raging success!
Did you know that in China they don't have werewolves but weretigers? One is featured in "The chinese gold murders" (part of the "Judge Dee" series) by Robert van Gulik, originally published in 1959.
Ha! An alter ego...
Would these books be appropriate for a 12 yr old daughter who is very in to a series in which feral cats have their own society, or is it too steamy?
Roland --- Yeah, cleverness is always the bane of a good lie. Very interesting about weretigers! I've been interested to see the different kinds of shapeshifters in mythology in different parts of the world. They seem to be nearly ubiquitous, but with very different characteristics in different places.
Sarah --- I adore Patricia Briggs! My books are quite a bit derivative of hers because she just can't write as fast as I want her to.
Eric --- Good question! Wolf Rampant is PG-13 and is likely okay for your daughter (depending on her maturity level). By popular demand, the Alpha Underground series is a bit spicier, although still pretty mild by modern standards.